Overtime and additional hours in Sweden, for employers

Overtime and additional hours

Overtime is time worked beyond ordinary hours and on-call time (section 7), normally beyond 40 hours a week. Additional hours are what a part-timer works beyond the ordinary hours and on-call time in their contract (section 10).

Sara works full time. Four weeks in November come to 46, 44, 52 and 40 hours: 6 + 4 + 12 + 0 = 22 hours of overtime, under the cap of 48.

The limits

• General overtime: when there is a special need for more working time, at most 48 hours per four weeks or 50 per calendar month, and 200 per calendar year (section 8).
• Extra overtime: at most 150 more hours a year, for special reasons when nothing else would reasonably solve it. General and extra overtime together stay within 48 hours per four weeks or 50 per month (section 8 a).
• General additional hours: at most 200 per calendar year. Extra additional hours: at most 150 more, on the same terms as extra overtime. General and extra additional hours together stay within 48 hours per four weeks or 50 per calendar month (sections 10 and 10 a).
• Total working time may be at most 48 hours per seven-day period on average over at most four months (section 10 b).
• Emergency overtime: when a natural event, an accident or something similar that could not be foreseen has stopped or threatens the business, as much as the situation requires. If there is a local union, it must be told as soon as possible (section 9).
• Daily and weekly rest still apply during overtime, the Swedish Work Environment Authority writes (in Swedish). See our guide to daily and weekly rest.
• Breaking the overtime rules without support in a collective agreement brings a penalty fee of one per cent of the base amount (prisbasbelopp) per unlawful hour and employee (section 26).

Pay

The Working Hours Act says nothing about overtime pay. The contract or collective agreement sets it, and the written terms of employment must state "what applies to overtime or additional hours and pay for such work" (Employment Protection Act, section 6 c; our translation).

Part-time and hourly staff

Additional hours are counted against the ordinary hours in the contract (section 10). Hours a part-timer works beyond full time are excess additional hours (överskjutande mertid), and the limits for general overtime apply to them, the Work Environment Authority writes (in Swedish). With a 35-hour week and 55 hours worked, 20 hours are additional, 15 of them excess. Three such weeks make 45 excess hours, so the fourth week has room for 3 more.

For an hourly employee the contract decides what counts as ordinary time. There is no separate cap for hourly staff.

The records

You must keep records of on-call time, overtime and additional hours, which employees and the workplace union may see (section 11). Under AFS 2023:2 chapter 9 (in Swedish):

• a clear record for each employee, in a document of your choice, on paper or a computer (section 3);
• employer, workplace, the employee's name and identity or employee number, and the period (section 4);
• on-call time, general overtime, extra overtime, general additional hours and emergency time are kept apart (section 5), and excess additional hours are shown (section 10);
• general overtime and additional hours are recorded as they arise, at the latest 14 days after the calculation period (section 9);
• the records are kept at the workplace for the calendar year they cover and two more years (section 6).

Doing it in practice

In Klokka you log the hours per day and see each person's weekly total in the grid. Before payroll you download a report for four weeks or a month. Klokka does not calculate overtime or split it into general and extra, but the hours are there when you or whoever runs payroll does.